Filling-replenishing hopper.



J. NOBTHROP.

km1111111 RBPLENISHING HOPPBR. APPLIUATIOl PILED DEO. 23. 1910.

imernaea l121111111912.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

JONAS NORTHROP, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG-NOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO DRAIPER COMPANY, A CORPORATION F MAINE.

FILLING-REPLENISHING HOPPER.

l l Speccaton of Letters Patent. i

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JONAS NoR'rI-Iaor, a

citizen of the United States, residing at` Hopedale, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in FillingReplenishing vHop-` pers, of which the following description, in-

connection with the accompanying drawings,

, is a specification, like` letters on the drawings representing like parts.

The invention to be hereinafter described relates to hoppers for holding filling carriers in filling replenishing looms.

Where a hopper or receptacle is employed to hold the filling carriers to be transferred to the shuttle'in looms ofthe above .general type, it is desirable that the filling ends shall lead from the filling carriers in the hopper to the filling end take-up or other holding means exterior of the hopper without injurious action thereon between the ends of the carrier and walls of the hopper. Owing to the loom vibration during weaving, if a filling end be caught or pinched between the end of the carrier and the walls of the hopper, it becomes chafed or abraded, or other` wise injured, and in some cases may be broken; moreover, the downward movement of the carriers will cause injurious rubbing action .upon the filling end, so that the weakened thread may become broken when the carrier is ultimately transferred to the Shuttle.

With these generally stated facts in View, the aims and purposes of the present invention are to provide means whereby,regard less of the particular construction of they hopper, the filling ends leading from the carriers therein willnot be subjected to the in-V jurious action stated, all as will hereinafter ,more fully appear from the following de-l scription and accompanying drawings of oner VApril 22, 1910; and Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2 2, Fig. 1.

The loom frame, the lay having the ordinary or any preferred form of shuttle boxes, the transferrer 1 mounted to turn about an axis 2,*supported by a bracket 3, the depending arm 4, and the means for actuating the transferrer when a filling carrier is to be transferred from the hopper to a shuttle may be of any usual form or kind, and as such elements are wellunderstood and form no part of the present invention, no further disclosure thereof need be given.

Extending from the bracket 3 or other support is a web or arm 5, Fig.` 1, for sustaining one end of the hopper, and a similar arm or weby at the other end ofthe hopper may be employed for a like purpose, as explained in my prior application Serial No. 501,482, filed J une l, 1909.

Rising from the brackets or arms described are' the parts 7 and -8 preferably formed, as'indicated by Fig. 2, and constituting portions of the front and end wallsy of the hopper. `Disposed at the rear of the part'7 is a web 9 between which and the front flange ofthe part 7, the' base portion of the filling carriers 10 are contained, said web 9 being provided, if desired, though not necessarily, with a rib or flange 11. At the rear of the part 8 is a web 12, preferably formed as shown by Fig. 2, a slot 13 being provided for the passage of filling ends leading from the carriers 10, the construction being lsuch that a suitable form of hopper is provided for containing the filling carriers, a plate 14 preferably closing the rear of the said hopper.

Obviously, the elements thus far described may variously be formed to constitute a receptacle -for lling carriers to be transferred to the shuttle, andI such receptacle may, if desired, be further strengthened by a web or bar 15, Fig. 1, extending between the front portions 7 and 8 of the hopper to which it may be secured by suitablemeans, as the bolts 16.

Having reference to Fig. 1, the lower portion of the hopper has a throat 17 for the passage of a lling carrier 10 when forced therethrough by the transferrer 1. One wall of the throat may be fixed and the other movable in order that under normal working condition of the loom, the filling carrier next to be transferred may properly be ysustained in transferring position and yet be permitted to pass under the impulse ofthe transferrer. In the presentv form of the in- Patented Jan. 16,1912.

As fully set forth in the application lastI` referred to, the hopper may be formed withj upwardly flaring Walls for containingin the upper part thereof a series of filling carv riers in plural line formation, and its lower part may be contracted to contain filling carriers in single line formation as they near transferring position, though, so far as the: present invention is concerned, this may bef ward on the interior 4of the hopper at a As hereinbefore noted, the vibrations ofj. the loom and other infiuences are apt to causef the filling carriers to move endwise in the hopper and to pinch or engage the filling otherwise than as stated.l

ends between the end wall of the hopper and the end of the filling carriers or bobbins with resultant injury to the filling end. To' overcome this tendency, the present invention contemplates means for acting upon the filling carriers to prevent the objectioni noted, and as one form of means 'to this end the wall of the hopper adjacent the tip portions of the filling carriers is provided with one or more carrier engaging devices acting to maintain the carriers with their tip portions out of contact with the end walls of the hopper.

In the form of invention shown, the hopper is provided on the inner portion thereof with guides 21, 21, adjacent the tip portionsy of the filling carriers', said guides extending downward in the hopper toward the transf ferring position. These guides are so disposed that they engage the filling on the carriers at the cone or tapering portion 22 thereof and, owing to the conical formation of the filling at this point, act to force thefilling carriers bodily endwise toward that portion of the hopper containing the base of the carriers or bobbins, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2.

The guides l21 may variously be formed and may extend from the upper portion of the hopper downward therein varying distances, butin practice it has been found that good results are secured by carrying the guides down to or somewhaty beyond the point where the lling carriers assume a single line formation as they move toward the point of transfer. Obviously, of course, they may extend the full length of the hopper walls if desired. l

The guides 21 are preferably formed with means 'for attaching them in position to the walls of the hopper, though they may obviously be formed on the walls themselves. In t-he form of guides illustrated, they are provided with hook-like upper ends 23 embracing the upper portion of the hopper walls, Fig. 1, to which they may be secured by suitable means, as, for instance, screw bolts 24 or otherwise, the particular form of securing means being clearly immaterial.

Where the guides 21 are employed in a hopper having provision in its upper por-A tion for a plural line formation of the carriers which merges into a lower portion for single line formation of the carriers, as in the form of hopper shown, the said guides are formed to correspond to the downward contour of the hopper, and preferably taper, as at 25, toward their lower ends, Fig. 1.

From the Aconstruction described, it will` be noted that the guides 21 extend ,downpoint adjacent the cone or tapering end of the filling on the carriers, and that they engage this portion of the filling, so that under the influence of the loom vibration they act to move the carriers endwise in the hopper and to maintain the ends 26 of the carriers away from the end walls 2f?, the result being that the filling ends leading from the carriers through the slot 13 of the hopper are left free and cannot be pinched, rubbed, or otherwise injured between the carrier ends and the walls of the hopper. This fact, to" gether with the additional fact that the carriers are prevented from rotative movement on their axes, as pointed out in my said prior application, obviates entanglement of the filling ends with the ends of the carriers, and preserves the filling intact without danger of injury or breakage.

Preferably the surface of the guides 21 is made rounded or curved, as shown in Fig. 2, though this may be otherwise; and various changes may be made in the detail format-ion of the guides and their means of support without Vdeparting from the spirit of the present invention.

Vhat is claimed is 1. In a filling replenishing loom, the combination of filling replenishing mechanism, a hopper having an upper chamber to contain filling carriers inV plural line -formation, and means on the interior of the hopper adjacent the delivery end of the filling carriers and separated from the ends walls of the hopper to contact with the conical portion of the filling on the carriers to cause said carriers to maintain positions in the hopper with the tip ends of the carriers out of contact with the end walls of the hopper.

2. In a filling replenishing loom, the combination of filling replenishing mechanism, a hopper having an upper chamber to contain filling carriers in plural line formation, and guides on the interior of the hopper separated from the end walls of the hopper and contacting with the conical portion of the filling on the carriers to cause said carriers to maintain positions in the hopper with the tip ends of the carriers out of cont-act with the end walls of the hopper.

3. In a filling replenishing loom, a hopper to contain a series of filling carriers, and means entering into the hopper chamber adjacent the delivery end of the filling carriers and engaging the conical or tapering portion. of the filling on the carriers at a point within the hopper separated from the end walls thereof to maintain the end's of the carriers from contact withthe end walls of the hopper.-

4. In a filling replenishing loom, a hopper to contain a series of filling carriers, and.

guides extending in the hopper and having guiding surfaces separated from the end walls of the hopper and contacting with the conical or tapering portion of the filling on the carriers to maintain the ends of the carriers from contact with the end walls of the hopper.

5. In a filling replenishing loom, a hopper to contain a series of filling carriers, and guides extending downward in the hopper toward transferring position and adjacent the tip portions of the carriers, said guides having their guiding surfaces separated a distance from the end walls of the hopper and contacting with the conical or tapering portion of the fillingto prevent the end of the carriers from contact with the end wall of the hopper.

6. In a loom, a filling carrier hopper comprising a chamber for containing a series of filling carriers, and means extending into the hopper chamber and having a part separated from the end walls of the hopper and acting on the filling wound upon said carriers'for preventing the ends of the carriers from injuring the filling ends leading from said carriers.

7 In a loom, a filling carrier hopper comprising a chamber for containing a'series of filling carriers, and means having a portion extending into the hopper and separated from the end walls Vof the hopper for causing the vibrations of the loom to act upon the filling carriers with a force exerted in a direction longitudinal thereof.

8. In a loom, a filling carrier hopper comprising a chamber for containing a series of filling carriers in plural line formation, and means between the front and rear walls of the hopper and separated from the end walls of the hopper to engage the lilling f on the carriers for causing the vibrations of the loom to act upon the filling carriers with a force exerted in a direction longitudinal thereof.

9. `In a loom, a filling carrier hopper comprising a chamber for containing a series of filling carriers, said chamber having end walls provided with a slot for the passage of the filling ends, and means extending within the hopper chamber and having a part separated from the end walls of the hopper and acting adjacent the tip portion of the filling carriers in the hopper to prevent contact of the carriers with the end walls of the hopper.

10. In a filling replenishing loom, a hopper to contain filling carriers, and a projection extending into the hopper at a distance from the end walls thereof and contacting with the conical or tapering portion of the filling on filling carriers to maintain the delivery ends of the carriers from contact with the walls of the hopper.

1l. In a filling replenishing loom, the combination of a hopper to contain lling carriers, and a projection extending from a wall of the hopper adjacent the delivery end of the carriers and down into the hopper` co-extensive with the end walls of the hopper to engage the conical or 'tapering portion of the filling on lling carriers to maintain the ends of the carriers from con- Vthe carriers from contact with the hopper walls.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JONAS NRTI-IROP. lVitnesses:

WENDELL WILLIAMS, BERTHA I. SNARE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

